Shallows Edge Mistakes and Consequences

@Askan

Lenka glanced up at the rising sun and sighed. She’d been up all night, trying to find her way home, but she felt like she’d only managed to get herself more lost. She hadn’t been gone long; maybe a little over a week, but it was enough. The pack scent had all but faded from her pelt, and she felt more alone than ever.

She’d only wanted to impress Askan, to get to know the area beyond the territory a bit better. She didn’t think she would get lost – she wasn’t going that far – but she hadn’t planned on slipping and falling in the river either. She wasn’t sure how far she’d been carried, but it must have been further than she thought.

Her original plan was to follow the water back to the territory, but she’d been forced to leave it to find food, and in the darkness she’d gotten turned around and lost her way. That was four nights ago.

The girl knew she was getting close to the borders again; the territory was starting to look familiar. She wasn’t sure Askan would let her back in, however, and the fear of being turned away gnawed at her belly every day she was gone. Each sunrise marked a decrease in the chances she would be welcomed back.

It seemed that today luck would be with her; she scented the pack's borders on the wind - and a hare. The girl paused, nose twitching hopefully. She was hungry - she'd never been a good solo hunter - but her interest was not in feeding herself. Golden eyes scanned the growth for movement. She heard a rustling to her right and ever so slowly eased that way. She could see the large rodent at the base of a sparse shrub, chewing on some kind of plant. Lenka stalked forward, pouncing when the hare saw her and bolted. Her jaws came together on its hind leg. It made a high shrieking sound and struggled in her grip, but she didn't relax. Her heart pounded in her ears. I caught it! She crowed in her mind. The problem was what to do next. She couldn't let go or it would get away, and she couldn't kill it by holding on to its back leg.

That was when the caught animal turned on her, its surprisingly sharp front claws raking across her face. She yelped and recoiled, but didn't let go of her prize. The hare was dragged into the air, where she fiercely shook it. There was a sharp crack! as it smacked against a tree, and then it was still.

Lenka slowly let her prey fall from her mouth, softly whimpering. Her muzzle stung where the hare's claws had carved a path, and beads of blood were starting to well from the wound. She pawed at her nose, but that only made the burn worse so she stopped. At least it hadn't gotten her eyes. She picked up the warm body again, mouth watering, but resisted the desire to eat it.

She trotted forward and it wasn't long before she was back at the borders. She placed her offering on the ground and called for Askan.

(This post was last modified: Feb 14, 2018, 03:55 PM by Lenka.)

Askan hadn't thought he would hear her voice again, let alone see her lingering at his border. As his approached he couldn't help but wonder what sort of excuse she had ready, waiting on the tip of her tongue. He had very little patience for that sort of thing, but he would hear her out. Just this once.

Coming to a stop, Askan quirked a brow as he took the state of her. She was all bedraggled, fur all unkempt and tail busy as though she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. Her nose also appeared to be bleeding, as to how that had happened he could only guess.  Only one thing came to mind. No exclamations of worry or concern, only this.

"You look like shit." He said, his tone as gentle as a slap to the face. "What happened?"

She didn't appear to be dying, so at least there was that. They didn't have any healers in their ranks and Lachesis was at least a day away, so she would just have to make do with healing up as best she could. Whilst continuing to do her part of course, the rules hadn't changed whilst she was away. If anything it had continued on as usual, as things were meant to be.

(This post was last modified: Feb 15, 2018, 02:38 AM by Askan.)

Lenka did not expect words of kindness. She didn’t know what she expected, to be honest. But the harsh words that came out of Askan’s mouth caused her to flinch back slightly. She hadn’t thought to stop and groom herself; it only made sense that she looked scraggly after the week she’d had. Shame washed over her.

At least he was giving her the chance to explain. That was a good sign, right? He wasn’t just turning her aside and kicking her out. Her shoulders slumped as Lenka tried and failed to hide her embarrassment. ”I was trying to learn more of the territory and thought it would be a good idea to get to know the area around the border too,” She began, unable to make eye contact for more than a few brief moments at a time. Her eyes flicked between her stern leader’s and the ground between her paws every few words. ”I was crossing the river and… I overestimated myself. I slipped and fell in, and got lost trying to find my way back.”

Her posture slumped even further, more embarrassed having said it out loud. Lenka had been trying to impress her new alpha and had ended up disappointing him instead.

Askan took note of her flinch, of the way she shrunk back a little at his blunt words. He wasn't going to apologise, after all why should he? He hadn't said anything overly rude or undue, he had simply been stating his mind as was his right. He waited for her to speak and wondered what sort of story she would string together.

And it turned out to be quite the tale, one he wasn't entirely sure if he believed it or not. It sounded like something his Mother would have once told him, a warning to stay away from rivers otherwise he would be swept downstream. Sure, the same had happened to Percy but she had been small at the time. Lenka wasn't a child anymore, she should have known better, done more.

"Uh huh." He rumbled, mulling it over.

On one hand she had come back, that meant she wanted to try again, right? She could have stayed away, kept on wandering but...the later she got back the worse it would seem. Returning months later would do her no favours, she no doubt realised that.

"So why are you here?" His brow quirked up as his tail flicked up, almost daring her to try and lie to him. It wouldn't get her far, he liked to think he would know. "How will I know you won't just wander off again, get lost or find another river to get swept away by?" He asked, dubious.

With a sinking feeling Lenka realized she wasn't sure Askan believed her. She was telling the truth - it wasn't exactly a creative story anyway - but it made sense that he would be wary. She hadn't been there long before disappearing.

His question surprised her, but it really shouldn't have. "I... I made a promise when I joined your pack." She said slowly, not sure why he was asking. "I didn't mean to get lost. I won't wander off again. When I joined Shallows Edge I committed myself to the pack. I take my promises seriosuly." She was again mildly offended, a pattern she was beginning to to notice with this alpha.

Askan didn't think he had spoken out of place. Why, was he supposed to roll out the red carpet and welcome her back with open arms? Without even questioning where she'd buggered off to in the first place? If she was offended then Askan didn't give two shits, she could scrunch her nose as much as she wanted, the sooner she understood where he was coming from the better.

"I'm not unreasonable."He told her, sounding as though this was all rather tiresome, like he had other places he wanted to be. "But saying something doesn't make it so, obviously. I will give you another chance, but you know this can't become a trend."She'd be out on her arse the day it became so. "You need to understand that as leader  I must set a precedent. If everyone comes and goes as they please there will be no one left in the end. The caches will run dry and the borders will go stale... I would rather die than let that happen." He rumbled, his teeth gritting together at the thought.

With a huff he turned and flicked his tail. "Come along."

There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

Lenka hadn't meant to question him, but it seemed her tone and expressions had done sok anyway. She dipped her head in shame again, silently vowing to get her temper under control. Her head shot up in surprise when Askan told her she could come back.

"Thank you!" She cried, jumping up and wagging her tail wildly. The rabbit at her feet was nearly forgotten, but when she tripped on it she remembered. "Oh, I brought this for you." She lifted it and offered it to him, pausing and wondering if he would take it or make her carry it in.

At least she was earnest, glad to be let back in. Sure, he was a little stricter than most but he wanted the other's to like it here. He had no desire to be the head of a tyrannical regime, in which his subordinates had no say in how things worked around here. The Edge Lords were in charge, that was undeniable, but if anyone had anything to say then they were welcome to. Even if it wasn't what Askan wanted to hear.

Looking down at the rabbit again, Askan hummed in acknowledgement. Their caches were crammed with rabbits these days, he couldn't wait till the snow thawed and they could start to hunt other game, without having to stray too far in the process.

"Bring it with you, let's find a cache to put it in. Do you still remember where they are?"

Lenka was so very pleased to be accepted back. The relief was so immense she felt light-headed. The Artemieva girl vowed that she wouldn't wander beyond the borders by herself ever again. She would get to know her fellow Edge wolves and prove that she could be loyal.

She still missed Meech, but she couldn't do anything for him. Maybe some day they would find each other, but for now she needed to worry about surviving. She needed to learn. She felt the Edge wolves had a lot they could teach her.

Lenka nodded in response to her leader's question and trotted after him, head held high to keep the rabbit off the ground. The future was going to be bright.